37.9074° N, 121.0764° W

OAKLAND

Most Famous People Born in Oakland, United States

Notable people
1,016
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1949
Most distinctive
Rapper 23.4×

The Rapper bench here runs at better than twenty-three times the global baseline — Too $hort, MC Hammer, and the entire Bay Area hyphy lineage compressed into one line of the panel, a regional rap dialect invented the way New Orleans invented jazz. The deep Baseball count is the other Oakland story, the A's dynasty years and the West Oakland sandlots that produced Rickey Henderson, while the outsized Artist bench still runs on Black Panther-era visual culture.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Oakland during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 138 notable births.

What Oakland Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Oakland's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (118).

Oakland over-indexes on rapper23.4× the global rate.

Oakland under-produces politician — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Football118
  2. Baseball102
  3. Actor85
  4. Basket52
  5. Politician50
  6. Music47
  7. Singer35
  8. Artist35
  1. Rapper2623.4×
  2. Baseball1028.8×
  3. Basket524.1×
  4. Artist353.4×
  5. Music473.2×
  6. Novelist112.7×
  7. Film241.9×
  8. Lawyer321.8×
  1. Politician500.4×
  2. Writer230.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Oakland's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

18001825185018751900192519501975
  • Sports
  • Music
  • Film & TV
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Other
Football118
Sort By

Showing 118 of 1,016 notable people

0082 FOOTBALL

Marshawn Lynch

Born 1986

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0100 FOOTBALL

Maurice Jones-Drew

Born 1985

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0146 FOOTBALL

Doug Martin (running back)

Born 1989

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0188 FOOTBALL

Robert Turbin

Born 1989

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0206 FOOTBALL

Josh Johnson (quarterback)

Born 1986

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0207 FOOTBALL

Steve DeBerg

Born 1954

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0248 FOOTBALL

Marcus Peters

Born 1993

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0258 FOOTBALL

Calen Carr

Born 1982

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0264 FOOTBALL

Lorenzo Alexander

Born 1983

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0274 FOOTBALL

Kirk Morrison

Born 1982

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0277 FOOTBALL

Michael Harris (offensive lineman)

Born 1988

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0281 FOOTBALL

Ahmad Hatifi

Born 1986

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0283 FOOTBALL

Deone Bucannon

Born 1992

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0342 FOOTBALL

Manny Fernandez (American football)

Born 1946

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0353 FOOTBALL

Charles Leno Jr.

Born 1991

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0360 FOOTBALL

Mike Pritchard

Born 1969

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0365 FOOTBALL

Takkarist McKinley

Born 1995

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0372 FOOTBALL

Mike Sherrard

Born 1963

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0389 FOOTBALL

Lorenzo Lynch

Born 1963

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0418 FOOTBALL

Roy Riegels

1908 - 1993

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0425 FOOTBALL

Marvel Smith

Born 1978

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0440 FOOTBALL

Marviel Underwood

Born 1982

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0455 FOOTBALL

Langston Walker

Born 1979

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0458 FOOTBALL

Eric Norwood

Born 1988

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0467 FOOTBALL

Shaun Williams (American football)

Born 1976

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0493 FOOTBALL

Bryan Caldwell

1960 - 2015

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0500 FOOTBALL

Gerris Wilkinson

Born 1983

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0512 FOOTBALL

Ethan Westbrooks

Born 1990

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0540 FOOTBALL

MacArthur Lane

1942 - 2019

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0544 FOOTBALL

Kevin King (American football)

Born 1995

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0555 FOOTBALL

Chris Henry (running back)

Born 1985

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0561 FOOTBALL

Derrick Gardner (American football)

Born 1977

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0564 FOOTBALL

Jarrod Pughsley

Born 1990

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0593 FOOTBALL

Gordon Gravelle

Born 1949

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0600 FOOTBALL

DiAndre Campbell

Born 1991

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0603 FOOTBALL

Hardy Nickerson Jr.

Born 1994

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0608 FOOTBALL

Ryan Murphy (American football)

Born 1992

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0612 FOOTBALL

Mike Teel

Born 1986

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0617 FOOTBALL

Leon Burns

1942 - 1985

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0618 FOOTBALL

Dave Barr (American football)

Born 1972

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0623 FOOTBALL

Junior Tautalatasi

Born 1962

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0628 FOOTBALL

Chris Burford

Born 1938

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0629 FOOTBALL

Thomas DeCoud

Born 1985

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0633 FOOTBALL

Ray Wells

Born 1980

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0638 FOOTBALL

Roy Robertson-Harris

Born 1993

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0640 FOOTBALL

Tom Scott (Canadian football)

Born 1951

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0643 FOOTBALL

Nick Reed

Born 1987

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0656 FOOTBALL

Julian Nash

Born 1983

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0665 FOOTBALL

Forrest Hightower

Born 1992

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0672 FOOTBALL

Frank Summers

Born 1985

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0676 FOOTBALL

Vince Albritton

Born 1962

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0677 FOOTBALL

Quinton Ganther

Born 1984

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0681 FOOTBALL

Bobby Kemp

1959 - 1998

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0683 FOOTBALL

Robert Jordan (American football)

Born 1986

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0684 FOOTBALL

Kendall McIntosh

Born 1994

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0688 FOOTBALL

Martin Tevaseu

Born 1987

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0690 FOOTBALL

Ken McAlister

Born 1960

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0699 FOOTBALL

Jacque Robinson

Born 1963

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0700 FOOTBALL

Chuck Fenenbock

1917 - 1998

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0701 FOOTBALL

Hank Norberg

1920 - 1974

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0703 FOOTBALL

Harry Mattos

1911 - 1992

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0704 FOOTBALL

Kevin Hardy (defensive tackle)

Born 1945

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0705 FOOTBALL

Bob Grim (American football)

Born 1945

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0712 FOOTBALL

Theron Lyman

1869 - 1939

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0718 FOOTBALL

Donnie Spragan

Born 1976

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0720 FOOTBALL

Mike Burns (American football)

Born 1954

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0721 FOOTBALL

Scott Slutzker

Born 1972

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0722 FOOTBALL

Hannibal Navies

Born 1977

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0735 FOOTBALL

Yonus Davis

Born 1984

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0738 FOOTBALL

Casey Merrill

Born 1957

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0746 FOOTBALL

Phil McKinnely

Born 1954

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0763 FOOTBALL

Roger Harding

1923 - 2009

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0765 FOOTBALL

Steve Odom

Born 1952

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0771 FOOTBALL

Bakari Grant

Born 1987

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0773 FOOTBALL

Ken Crawford (American football)

1898 - 1957

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0777 FOOTBALL

Henry Stuckey

Born 1950

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0783 FOOTBALL

Morris Owens

Born 1953

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0789 FOOTBALL

Ted Connolly

1931 - 2014

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0790 FOOTBALL

Clark Miller

1938 - 2008

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0800 FOOTBALL

Chris Dixon (American football)

Born 1981

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0807 FOOTBALL

LaKeysia Beene

Born 1978

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0814 FOOTBALL

Eric Lane (American football)

Born 1959

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0818 FOOTBALL

Bill Dunstan

Born 1949

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0826 FOOTBALL

Demetrius Crawford

Born 1986

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0827 FOOTBALL

Gerald Cadogan

Born 1986

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0835 FOOTBALL

Elmer Collett

Born 1944

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0837 FOOTBALL

Dante Marsh

Born 1981

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0842 FOOTBALL

Tim Stokes

Born 1950

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0851 FOOTBALL

Nate Ilaoa

Born 1983

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0856 FOOTBALL

Fred Silva

1927 - 2004

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0865 FOOTBALL

Blair Phillips

Born 1984

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0870 FOOTBALL

Marcus Williams (tight end)

Born 1977

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0874 FOOTBALL

Steven Montez

Born 1997

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0877 FOOTBALL

Don Smith (defensive lineman)

Born 1957

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0885 FOOTBALL

Brandon Smith (defensive back, born 1984)

Born 1984

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0895 FOOTBALL

Al Andrews

Born 1945

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0897 FOOTBALL

Mark Foster (soccer)

Born 1973

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0899 FOOTBALL

Dave Albright

Born 1960

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0906 FOOTBALL

Jesse Murdock

1938 - 1965

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0911 FOOTBALL

Marc Dunn

Born 1978

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0912 FOOTBALL

Jill Gilbeau

Born 1987

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0913 FOOTBALL

Al Endress

Born 1929

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0931 FOOTBALL

Venus James

Born 1979

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0937 FOOTBALL

John Sutro (American football)

Born 1940

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0940 FOOTBALL

JoJo Polk

Born 1978

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0942 FOOTBALL

Bob Sykes (American football)

1927 - 2020

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0946 FOOTBALL

Steve Svitak

Born 1945

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0954 FOOTBALL

Maury Duncan

Born 1931

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0958 FOOTBALL

Gene Taylor (American football)

Born 1962

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0962 FOOTBALL

Forey Duckett

Born 1970

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0964 FOOTBALL

Rashad Floyd

Born 1979

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0981 FOOTBALL

Peter Arnautoff

Born 1951

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0985 FOOTBALL

David Bakal

Born 1989

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0999 FOOTBALL

Wopamo Osaisai

Born 1986

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1000 FOOTBALL

Rufus Skillern

Born 1982

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1003 FOOTBALL

Andre Torrey

Born 1982

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1005 FOOTBALL

Andre Hines

Born 1958

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1012 FOOTBALL

D'Wayne Taylor

Born 1979

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